Throughout the course of this semester, we have worked hard to challenge our thoughts and stereotypes in order to successfully incorporate multicultural education into our future classrooms. I have been able to work through my own stereotypes and disruptions and become a more open and understanding teacher. I have come a long way as I look back through the course of the semester and am so grateful for the growth I have experienced.
From the beginning, when we did our first imagined classroom, I thought I was a pretty open and accepting person regarding race/culture/sexual orientation. But as the course of the semester continued on and we did more and more reading reflections, I was surprised every week to critically self-evaluate my thoughts and views of those around me. In my first imagined classroom, I didn't include anything racist or anything like that but I failed to include lesson plans that steered clear of white-middle-class viewpoints. I failed to incorporate and celebrate many cultures and identities in my classroom. I have changed that over the course of the semester, as shown in my reimagined classroom. I now realize that importance it is for me as a teacher to make an extra effort to include multicultural and social justice teaching strategies. Rather than keep it simple and easier on my part by just following basic teaching strategies, it is so important for me to break out of my shell and teach for social justice and multicultural purposes.
When I think of how I have changed the most throughout this semester, I think of the videos we watched about different slangs that different groups of people have. I think of my first reaction while watching these videos, and how I was automatically annoyed that they didn't talk in 'proper English'. They were speaking in their cultural slang, Black English, Appalachian English and more. I was automatically annoyed that they didn't take the time to learn 'proper English' and assumed that they were less intelligent than those who do speak in 'proper English'. I have changed in this viewpoint so much over the semester, which I am so proud of. It is easy to assume one person is more intelligent than another based on how they dress, speak, etc. But my mind has been forever changed as I critically self-evaluated those thoughts and realized that appearance and slang has nothing to do with the intelligence a person has. It has taken a while to work through these biases, but I am not comfortable stating that I am less likely now to judge a student based on looks/language used on whether or not they will be a successful student in my class.
Overall, this class has helped me view the world from perspectives other than mine on very important topics regarding to me as a teacher. I learned the importance of including a rainbow flag in my classroom, not necessarily because it effects me but because it will effect my relationship and the trust students who come from LGBTQ families will have with me. I learned the importance of teaching for social justice so that we refrain from teaching a generation to continue to be sexist, racist, etc. I learned of the importance to step back and self-evaluate and be willing to recognize that your viewpoints are wrong and to work through them to correct them. I learned of the importance of looking at activities, lessons, assignments from multiple perspectives to make sure it isn't offensive or catering to one culture or group of people. I learned of the importance to think of how students with wheelchairs, language barriers, hearing impairments, cultural differences, gender identity differences or any other diversity would think and what I need to do to support them in my classroom. I learned of the importance of accepting and supporting all students in my classroom, no matter who they are or how they identify with the world. My viewpoints and teaching strategies are forever changed by self-critiquing my viewpoints and stereotypes and being awakened to the importance of viewing issues and important teaching strategies through the eyes of other cultures and backgrounds. I am grateful for the opportunity to be opened up to the process of dealing with discomforts, learning from them and applying what I learned to being the most successful teacher I can be.
No comments:
Post a Comment